


Summer Vacation

by Bookwormgal



Series: Black Crayons [4]
Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: Badass!Sarah, Beaches, Card Games, Cute Kids, Drawing, Gen, Giant Robots, Horrible Accents, MamaBear!Sarah, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Pre-Relationship Ironhide/Chromia, Racing, Summer Vacation, Target Practice, Twins, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Water Balloon Fights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-20
Updated: 2014-06-20
Packaged: 2018-02-05 11:33:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 16,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1817083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookwormgal/pseuds/Bookwormgal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When summer rolls around, people are drawn to exotic locations. And where is more exotic than the NEST base of operations? Annabelle will have a interesting vacation to say the least.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Roadtrip Preparations

Summer was truly underway. This was the time families went on vacations to interesting locations. Some trips were more interesting than others.

Annabelle was busy packing toys and coloring books to take with her on the vacation. She had heard Mommy and Daddy talking about it earlier. Daddy and Ironhide had to go to their workplace so Daddy could so some training stuff and Ironhide could get a check-up from Ratchet. The girl's favorite Cybertronian had been avoiding "dealing with that blasted Hatchet" and now he had to go or get in trouble. They would be gone for a month, but Daddy had "pulled some strings and tricked the feeble-minded, pencil-pushing, numbskulls in charge of important sounding junk" and now Mommy and she were coming too.

The plan was for Ironhide to drive them to an army-type airplane that would fly them to somewhere else. Then they would get on a big boat to the base. Annabelle was excited because she would get to see more Autobots. She'd been practicing with Ironhide on how to talk like one and she couldn't wait to show off.

* * *

"Are you sure this is alright?" asked Sarah for the tenth time.

Her husband grinned as he helped her pack, "I'm just taking advantage of the bureaucrats' stupidity. I filled out a request to allow 'two civilians with previous knowledge of maximum security clearance topics' and all that paperwork. Automatically, they assume it means Sam and Mikaela and they don't dare restrict their access to the Autobots. So, as long as all the right boxes are checked on the forms, they couldn't care."

"So you intend to lie…"

"Not lie, per say," he interrupted. "Just let them make a few assumptions. Really, Annabelle will love this and she'll get to enjoy a month vacation while her daddy gets to play with a bunch of over-grown kids and mechs."

Sarah rolled her eyes at his exaggerated description on training. But both she and her daughter would prefer not to be away from him and Ironhide for a month if they could manage it.

"Alright, but when this all blows up, I swear I'll blame it all on you."

* * *

It only made sense to transport the Lennox family at night. Fewer cars on the road driven by easily distracted humans. In addition, since Ironhide was doing the actual driving, they could sleep while they traveled. Even Annabelle, bouncing in excitement earlier, was now drowsing in his cab.

The weapon specialist went over what to take care of first when he arrived on base. First thing, after dodging Hatchet who would drag him off to med-bay immediately, he would hunt down the twins. Both he and Will felt that some ground rules about "appropriate" behavior around the child should be firmly ground into their processors.

"…Ironhide," muttered the girl's sleepy voice.

"Yes, Annabelle?"

"Are we there yet?"


	2. Annabelle Vs. Simmons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who will win? The five year old child or the paranoid agent?

While the travel time had worn on his daughter's nerves, they were now arriving at Diego Garcia. The girl was currently asleep in Ironhide's cab, refusing to leave her friend. Considering she had never spent much time away from home overnight, neither of her parents was extremely concerned by this. She was just staying somewhere familiar to her. What did concern Lennox was the man confronting him.

"A secret that has been more or less maintained since that crazy old Witwicky ancestor found the frozen piece of scrap in the Arctic Circle is now in danger of being revealed," ranted Simmons, ex-Sector Seven agent and current NEST supervisor. What he supervised was debatable, but the government had to give him some kind of job dealing with the Cybertronians. He was far more dangerous when left to his own devices. And he still refused to return Frenzy's head, claiming it was his trophy. So, they gave him a title and the man put his nose in all aspects of NEST that he could. Today, he seemed to be supervising security. "Is it being threatened to be revealed because of the crazy leader of supreme evil broadcasting across the globe? Because of mass destruction from a battle in a major city or on a landmark? No! Because a three year old is going to open her mouth and spill national secrets at show-and-tell. It's bad enough that the kid with the alien Camaro is driving around free with his criminal girlfriend, but now any infant is being allowed to know high level security information."

"First off, Annabelle is five," Major Lennox corrected. "Second, she is not going to go off talking about Ironhide or any of the Autobots. She's already in school and…"

"Wait, not only did you reveal dangerous secrets to her," interrupted the outraged man, "but you allow her to interact with others in an uncontrolled environment with that knowledge? This is a serious security breach, Lennox."

"As I was saying, she knows how to keep a secret. She has more sense than you give her credit for."

"Please," Simmons rolled his eyes. "Give me five minutes and she'd spill everything."

Growing frustrated, Lennox sighed, "Is that what you really think? Five minutes? Fine. Talk to her. I'll bet you anything she'll not reveal a thing."

"Do you think she is that good of a liar?"

The parent shook his head, "She won't lie, but she won't let anything slip either. Trust me."

* * *

The young girl rubbed her eyes. Daddy had woken her up and said someone wanted to talk with her. He led her to where another grown up with dark hair and a sour expression was standing. The stranger gave her a smile that was completely phony.

"Hello Annie," he greeted.

"Annabelle," the girl corrected. She didn't like nicknames that much (except for her daddy's) and especially from strangers.

"My name is Agent Simmons and I have a few questions for you," he continued, trying to sound cheerful.

"Okay. What?"

"What do you know about aliens?"

The child blinked at the bluntness of the adult's words. Slowly she answered, "Lots. There's E.T., Martians, the guys with funny heads on that one show on T.V…."

"Star Trek," reminded her daddy. "They were Klingons."

"I don't mean those," interrupted Simmons. "I mean metal looking ones."

Annabelle smiled sweetly at the man, her expression as false as the one he greeted her with, "R2-D2 is my favorite of those, but C-3PO was funny too. Star Wars was a fun movie."

"No, no, no," growled the man, shaking his head. He seemed to rethink his strategy a little. "Let's try again. What do you think of your father's truck?"

"I like it a lot," she answered honestly.

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because."

"Is there anything… special about it?" he pressed, his eyes gaining a predatory look.

"Yes, it's Daddy's truck."

"Anything else? Anything about it that you don't see in other trucks?"

"You don't see me, Mommy, or Daddy in other trucks," she suggested.

The government agent glared at the five year old girl, his aggravation growing. "I mean, is it unique? Is something about this _truck_ that you aren't supposed to tell people? You can tell me." He tried to give a reassuring smile, but his frustration caused him to fail.

"I'm not supposed to say that Daddy wanted to have the truck run over some 'big-headed joker that couldn't hack it at civilian life' that he works with," whispered the child, her eyes dancing with mischief at revealing this "secret" to him.

Simmons spun to face her daddy, his face a mask of fury. "You wanted to WHAT?!"

Her parent forced himself to hide the grin on his face, "You do annoy me at times. And speaking of time, yours is up. I believe that you have failed miserably." He looked at Annabelle, "It's okay, sweetheart. This 'big-headed joker' already knows about Ironhide and the others."

"Alright Daddy," she grinned. "Can I go back and find Ironhide?"

"He's probably already headed out, dodging Ratchet. Why don't we go find him," Lennox suggested as he and his daughter walked off, leaving a shocked Simmons to mentally go over the conversation, trying to understand how a five year old outsmarted him.


	3. A Discussion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins and Ironhide have a nice little chat...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't do gangster talk like the twins do in the movie very well (and I have no intentions of raising the rating just for those two jokers' language). So Ironhide is going to solve both my and his problems with them now.

Mudflap and Skids were the most immature pair of lug-nut heads that any of the Autobots knew of (this included the other known twin pair, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker). They adapted to human life too well, and in all the wrong ways. Even the other soldiers were becoming increasingly tired of their adopted speech style. According to Epps, they gave the impression that, even combined, they had the processing power of a Gameboy.

Ironhide intended to deal with them quickly before they could even come close to Annabelle. The last thing he needed was to end up with her talking like those two. Not only would the style not suit the intelligent child, their language fell under the category of "inappropriate for kids." The weapon specialist zeroed in on his targets.

The orange and lime-green Cybertronians were currently trying to "sneak" towards the soldiers' quarters. No matter what they may claim, they had no similarity to a ninja. If they couldn't transform into cars, there was no way they could'v hid on this planet at all. Whatever they had in mind that required this attempt at stealth had to be trouble. With these two, it was always trouble. Which meant that he could take pleasure in knowing that he was performing a service for the greater good, as well as for the good of a certain little girl.

Ironhide took hold of a mech in each hand and, imitating Bumblebee in Egypt when he became frustrated with the pair, smashed them together. Then, he wacked them again for good measure. Once he was sure he had their complete attention, he glared in each of their optics.

"Yo, wassup wit' all the…" started Skids before Ironhide interrupted.

"Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you," he growled. "For the duration of mine and Lennox's time here, his daughter will also be present."

"Sweet," grinned Mudflap, "New targets. You tink she'll be as entertainin' as dat Chia-pet head, Leo?"

The larger Autobot smashed their faces together again, silencing the twins once more. Ironhide then continued as if he had not been interrupted.

"While she is here, you two are to demonstrate behavior appropriate for civilized beings. You will not speak to her as you have to the soldiers here on base. You _will_ study up on what is considered acceptable language for children her age. You will not use this absurd speech pattern that you continue to adopt. I know that you both have been informed that it is considered not only stereotypical of a certain group of humans and could be considered an insult, but it also portrays an image of low intelligence. While that may be the image you wish to have, I will not have you educating Annabelle to follow this pattern."

"Chill out," requested the orange Cybertronian. "Izzit that big a deal?"

And once more, the twins were bashed together. Ironhide then leaned over to the pair.

"If I find any evidence that you serve as a negative influence on the girl, I swear I will weld the two of you to the ceiling. And that is nothing to what William and Sarah Lennox would do to you if they find out you are causing their daughter problems. Do we have an understanding?"

Rather than risk speaking aloud until they download a more favorable accent, the pair just nodded enthusiastically.

"Good. Glad we cleared this up," smiled the trigger-happy Ironhide, dropping the twins.

As he left them alone, they two Cybertronians exchanged glances. While they would avoid any language-based problems concerning Annabelle (for now at least), Ironhide had said nothing about pranks. And the weapon specialist had earned a good one. All they had to do was plan it out and find an escape route for after.


	4. More Bots

On the base, there were lots of people who wore uniforms like Daddy's. They seemed surprised for her to be here, but they said nothing. In fact, other than that funny Simmons man, no one had talked to her yet. But that was okay. They were all grownups and they weren't nearly as fun as other kids or Autobots (except Mommy and Daddy, but they didn't really count as grownups anyway).

One that she sort of recognized started to approach Annabelle and her father. His grin was infectious as he greeted them.

"Lennox, can't believe you actually went through with it," he laughed.

"Of course, Epps. I said I would," her parent answered. "Have you seen Sarah?"

He shook his head in amusement, "She was chewing out some new recruit that offered to take her to the 'civilian-safe zone.' Your wife was busy informing the poor guy that not only could she take care of herself, that 'civilian-safe zone' is code for 'away from anything top secret' and such efforts are a waste of time for her. She then explained that not only would she be going where she pleased, she would not remain confided to a secure room away from her husband for the extent of her visit. I was coming to get you to run damage control."

Her daddy chuckled at the idea of Mommy yelling at someone other than him, "I'll try my best. Why don't you take Annabelle over to where ever Ironhide is hiding from Ratchet?"

"Better you than me," Epps informed him, taking the girl by the hand. "Come on, sweetie." Because she knew the man better than that weirdo, Simmons, she accepted the cute nickname's use. "We'll go find some more interesting company."

Annabelle couldn't fight back a giggle as her father gave a false expression of hurt. "More interesting than me? Perish the thought."

"I'd say transforming vehicles win out on pure coolness," grinned Epps. "Sorry, but it is true that you're not going to win that contest anytime soon."

"Away with you and your traitorous talk," commanded her parent.

* * *

Several vehicles sat parked, looking as innocent as could be. Annabelle knew better. Her eyes ran over the familiar symbol that appeared somewhere on all Autobots. The three motorcycles rolled over to her unaided while an unknown blue car followed. The girl waved at them.

"Hi Arcee. Hi Flareup. Hi Chromia." She called sweetly. "Who's your friend?"

With a sound of shifting metal, the four shapes twisted and growing taller. They took on more humanoid forms and they stared down at the five year old and the grown soldier beside her. The pink one bent down to closer to level with the humans.

"Hello, Annabelle. It is good to see you again," Arcee greeted. "This is Jolt, another Autobot. What are you doing here?"

"Daddy and Ironhide had to come here for a while, so me and Mommy came too," explained the girl cheerfully to the staring group of Cybertronians. "Daddy is going to stop Mommy from yelling at people and Ironhide is probably hiding from Ratchet. So Daddy's friend, Epps, is showing me around." She then looked at the dark blue former car. "It's nice to meet you, Jolt. I'm Annabelle."

He nodded slowly, confused by her excited chatter. He was one of the newer members to this planet and had mostly dealt with soldiers. The hyper child was far different than any of the other humans he had encountered. The closest to this was Sam and his nervous babble.

"Do you know Ironhide and my daddy? They work here and beat up bad robots," she continued, enjoying herself even though she was wondering where the weapon specialist was hiding.

Chromia took pity on the overwhelmed Jolt and nodded, "Yes, we all know them, Annabelle. Do you want to help me find that cowardly Ironhide?"

"Ironhide isn't a coward," the girl pouted.

"I know," laughed the former blue motorcycle. "No one could say he was, but he _is_ hiding. Do you still want to find him with me?"

"Okay," she agreed.

Epps shook his head ruefully, "I'll claim you kidnapped the girl, but have fun. I'll go see if Sarah is still on the rampage."

"Okay. Bye," smiled Annabelle as she climbed on the transformed Chromia.

"Hold on tight," the motorcycle instructed. "I need to find you a helmet later, but I'll go slow."

The vehicle then took off at an impressive speed, leaving the child laughing in amusement. Just as she did with Ironhide, she trusted the Cybertronian not to drop her. Wind whipped her hair behind her. Epps was left in their dust staring in surprise at the speed.

"Her father is going to kill me," he muttered. "If he finds out that I let his five year old child ride around on a motorcycle without a helmet. _If_ he finds out, that is."

* * *

"Faster, Chromia, faster," coaxed the girl.

The femme couldn't really smile in this mode, but she would have. Some humans would react with unease at riding in a vehicle that they had no control with. The reactions were even worse when they rode on a motorcycle than in the safely enclosed vehicles. This youngling, this child, did not fear her at all. She trusted the Cybertronian completely. Few humans, even those they fought beside in battle, could claim that complete of trust in them. No wonder Ironhide seemed to hold such a special place for her in his spark.

"If you say so," she answered, speeding up to the happy squeals of Annabelle.

She started swerving back and forth, causing even more expressions of happiness from the child. Then, to finish it off, Chromia executed a quick wheelie, ensuring that the girl's position on her seat remained undisturbed. Some of the soldiers that they passed applauded or whistled in approval. A couple called for them to slow down, possibly concerned for Annabelle's safety. Still, she kept urging the femme on.

"I think we're getting close to him now," informed Chromia. "We'll have to slow down."

"Aw…" the girl answered, but still laughing with joy at the ride. "Can we do it again later?"

"Sure," the Cybertronian assured her. "But let's go see what Ironhide is up to."


	5. Twins and Epps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the twins meet Annabelle and Epps has a close encounter with Sarah Lennox...

"Wait, you left our daughter with Epps?!" screamed Sarah, turning her earlier rage at the poor recruit at her now equally defenseless husband. "Are you insane? I've _met_ him. You know him and you know our daughter. He may have daughters of his own, but they're kept in line by his wife. She'll be gone in five minutes."

William Lennox stared at his beautiful wife's red features, "Honey, I had to stop you from killing the innocent bystanders. And he was the only one that was around. As you said, he _does_ have daughters."

"Who've lived with Ironhide?" reminded the woman. "And are now on a military base crawling with Autobots? You know she'll want to explore. And there're so many places she could get lost or hurt. How will we find her?"

"Easy. Find Ironhide. That's where they were going. And you really should have more faith in Epps. He'll keep an eye on her."

* * *

Chromia, moving at a deceptively slow and safe-looking pace, pulled into one of the oversized buildings that the Cybertronians could fit inside. She could tell Ironhide was nearby, but where…

She spotted two familiar mechs, their bright colors catching the child's eyes. Annabelle waved from her seat.

"Hi, nice to meet you," the girl called. "I'm Annabelle."

The twins stared silently for a few minutes, causing Chromia to wonder what they were up to. Then, Mudflap slowly waved back cautiously.

"Hello, Annabelle. We've heard a lot about you," he greeted back.

Now the femme was concerned. While his voice was still the same, his speech style was extremely neutral and lacked the odd mannerisms that he and his brother had adopted since their arrival. Annabelle didn't know how out of character this was, however.

"Really? Was it nice stuff?" asked the child.

Skids nodded carefully, "Yes, it's been all very nice and we're very… happy to meet you. My name is Skids and this bolt-hea… I mean, this is my brother, Mudflap."

Chromia felt extremely surprised. These two were acting way too abnormal. They seemed uncomfortable talking to the girl, as if one wrong word would be fatal. The twins weren't even this polite and formal around Optimus.

"Have you seen Ironhide?" Annabelle continued.

The orange mech answered, "He was here just a few minutes ago. If you'll excuse me, we'll be going now."

The pair transformed into their vehicle form and sped out of the child's presence as if running for their lives.

"Wonder what got into those two," murmured Chromia.

The girl replied, "Maybe they have a joke or something. Ironhide says those two always have a joke or a prank going. But he doesn't always like it."

"They try something against him too often," she explained. "Even if they know he'll respond the worse to their activities."

"I'll protect him," announced Annabelle.

The Cybertronian chuckled, "If you can protect him from the pranks of those two, I'll be impressed. Now, he should be nearby now."

"I'll find him," the girl grinned. She then took a deep breath. "Ironhide! Where are you!"

The motorcycle couldn't help but laugh at the simplicity of Annabelle's plan. The weapon specialist was definitely in range to hear her, so she just called out to him. So, neither of them were greatly surprised as a black truck pulled into sight.

* * *

"Hey, you calmed her down," called Epps, approaching the two Lennoxes. "Congratulations. And you survived, Will. An even greater miracle."

"Epps…" began Sarah, her voice deceptively sweet. "Where is she?"

The man then realized the dangerous position he was in. He had a flashback of all those nature shows with mother bears. At least he resisted the urge to ask "Where's who?" because that would be a suicidal mistake. Sweating slightly, he did his best to grin reassuringly.

"She's safe. I left her with… a reliable baby-sitter?" he tried slowly.

"Where is she?" the woman repeated, her eyes gaining a dangerous edge while her husband edged away.

Epps swallowed, "She… she… she was kidnapped by Chromia. I had no choice. I didn't have a change."

Lennox whacked his forehead just as his fellow soldier realized that this was the wrong answer. Sarah grabbed the collar of his uniform and pulled his face close.

"Where. Is. She?" she hissed. "Where were they going? And don't claim that Chromia kidnapped her. All they have to do is ask and you'd have let her go."

"Looking for Ironhide," answered Epps, realizing how true that statement was. It was exactly what happened. "That's all I know."

"So they walked off together…" she began. Then she stopped. "No, they didn't walk, did they? Please tell me that my five year old daughter is not driving around a military base on a motorcycle."

Epps closed his eyes, not wanting to see his death coming.

The hand holding his collar shook him, "Tell me she's wearing a helmet at least. Or that they were going slow. Tell me that much at least."

The soldier kept his eyes closed, wondering if it was fair that someone who fought giant evil robots was about to be killed by such an nice-looking woman, the wife of his friend, on a base with so many allies and weapons that could have protected against most attacks. He survives Decepticons to die at the hands of his friend's wife. He just stood there waiting for his doom.


	6. Ironhide and Ratchet

"Hi Ironhide, we were looking for you," explained the girl. "Sorry Daddy took me to talk to a stupid head, but when I got back, you were gone. I've already met some new Autobots and they were nice, but I missed you already."

The weapon specialist shifted out of his truck form and looked at the child. She was sitting on a transformed Chromia and looking completely oblivious to the behavior the twins had demonstrated. He had observed at a distance and was rather surprised himself how well it went. Which of course meant that they were up to something.

"So, other than Mudflap and Skids just now, who did you run into? And where are your parents?" he asked.

The girl thought about it, "I ran into the Chromia and the other girls and a blue car named Jolt. And Mommy is yelling at someone and Daddy went to stop her. And Daddy's friend Epps let me go with Chromia."

As if summoned by her words, three more humans joined them. Sarah Lennox had a fierce expression on her face while Epps looked terrified of the woman. Ironhide could guess what was wrong with the soldier. Honestly, if she was allowed access to any powerful weaponry, the Decepticons would be near extinction (along with any poor fool who underestimated or upset her).

"Hi Mommy," called the child. "Chromia gave me a ride to find Ironhide."

"Sweetheart, remember how you're supposed to wear a helmet when riding your bike?" asked the parent, her eyes glancing at Epps and Chromia, who looked a little ashamed. "The same thing applies for riding motorcycles too."

Annabelle sighed patiently, "But she's an Autobot. She wouldn't let me crash or fall down. I wouldn't scrape my knee like I do on the bike. Besides, it was really fun."

Ironhide could see the woman struggling with the urge to argue for the safety of her child and the desire not to insult Chromia's abilities. Sarah knew that riding with an Autobot was safer than any human transportation, but that didn't quite cancel out her parental concern. She settled for smacking the back of Epps' head.

"You are never allowed to baby-sit again," she informed him.

The soldier grinned slightly, "Don't worry. I've heard stories of what happens to her baby-sitters. It isn't pretty."

The young girl giggled as she watched. Suddenly, another vehicle approached. Ironhide identified the incoming sound, but had no way to escape in time. The familiar emergency vehicle pulled up and shifted to his bipedal form. The child waved cheerfully as her favorite Cybertronian groaned inwardly.

"Hi Ratchet, how are you?" she called.

The Medical Officer looked down at Annabelle, "Very well, child. And I see you are in good health." He then looked smugly at the weapon specialist. "I almost couldn't find you, but between the news of a five-year old child and her joyride across base along with the warning of Mrs. Lennox's presence, I was able to locate you. I believe you are supposed to be in Med bay right now, Ironhide."

Rather than express his real feelings, the transformed truck smiled falsely, "I was just on my way."

"Good, then you won't mind me escorting you," Ratchet informed him, recognizing the glares directed at him and not caring.

"Have up a good check-up, Ironhide," smiled the child. She then gave Ratchet a suspicious look. "It is just a check-up, not like when I sometimes go for a check-up and they give me a shot anyways? Cause its kind of mean to not warn someone about that."

Ratchet's chuckling made Ironhide want to sink into the ground or to be captured by Decepticons. As much as Annabelle was trying to help, the weapon specialist would never hear the end of this. It almost beat the whole "birthday party" event.


	7. The Prank

Annabelle had been present several days now. She'd got to say hi to Optimus and a new Autobot named Sideswipe after Ratchet borrowed Ironhide. Sideswipe was supposed to have a twin like Mudflap and Skids did, but Sunstreaker wasn't on Earth currently. Which, according to her favorite Cybertronian, was a good thing because they "could barely handle one set of twins." She would like to meet him someday, but for now… She was content.

Sam, Mikaela, and Bumblebee were supposed to be arriving tomorrow. The young girl was excited to have more friends to play with. Daddy and Ironhide had to go for "training" sometimes and "teach the new recruits who's boss." So she ended up coloring and talking to the others when they weren't busy. And, sometimes, Mommy and Daddy would still leave her with one of the Autobots or off duty soldiers as a baby-sitter so they could spend some time together too. One of them, the one that Mommy had yelled at when they arrived, was keeping an eye on her at the moment as she colored.

"I still say that he needs something special," a semi-familiar voice argued. "A prank to end all…"

She looked up to see the lime-green Autobot approaching, deep in discussion with his twin. As they came into view, they quickly reverted to their native language. The only reason why they would do that would be because they had a secret. A secret for them, from what the young girl had heard, meant trouble. Annabelle smiled as she kept listening, her rudimentary understanding of the Cybertronian language giving her the occasional word or phrase she recognized.

"… Ironhide……..trouble…when…?" asked Skids. "………..?"

"No, ……too risky…" Mudflap argued. "Soon………..after Bumblebee….."

"…trouble… Optimus?"

"No… Maybe Ratchet…… fun. When… Ironhide… trouble… where…?"

"No idea. Maybe….," finished Skids, waving his hand dismissively.

Annabelle went over what was being said. They started off with the word prank before they started with the Cybertronian. Then, she heard the Ironhide's name and the word "trouble" a lot. The five year old put together this and came up with one logical conclusion.

They were going to try and pull a joke on Ironhide.

She frowned. It would be funny, but probably mean too. She didn't want that. Why should she let them trick her friend?

They had said something about "after Bumblebee," which probably was when they were going to do their prank. She could warn Ironhide, but she didn't know what to warn against. She could tell Optimus, but she didn't want to be a tattletale. The girl didn't know what to do.

"Um… Hi Annabelle," greeted Mudflap, waving at the girl as they walked past carefully.

She waved back, "Hi. What are you up to?"

"Nothing. Nothing," he assured. "I'll see you later."

And with that, the green and orange twins edged out of the area. She gained a mischievous grin. She looked at her current baby-sitter.

"Excuse me, can I get some stuff from one of the office-like rooms?"

"Like what?"

"Pencils, paper, stick glue, markers," she listed.

"I don't think we have a lot of art supplies, but let's see what we can find. Come on," he instructed. He didn't dare leave her unwatched. Sarah had convinced him that, for his continued health, it would be unwise. "We'll check it out."

* * *

That night, she crept quietly out of the room that she and her mother shared while on base. Daddy had one that was his whenever he was here, but it was too small for everybody. The girl clutched her tools as she stepped to where the Autobots would be sleeping. They were in their vehicle modes, silent and still. The bright colors of the twins' paintjob were easy to spot even in the dark.

She opened her glue stick and quietly slid it across the orange hood as far as she could reach. She drew the glue like a crayon, forming clear shapes on the surface. Then, she opened her jar of glitter from home. She shook it along the glue lines, the shiny colorful specks sticking to the car. She then moved on to covering the rims of the car in glitter, hiding the chrome color entirely.

She repeated the procedure on the second Cybertronian, taking her time so that neither her actions nor any sounds were great enough to disturb any of those who were parked there. She knew exactly how much noise was enough on Ironhide or how lightly she could touch him without waking him. As she had thought, these two were even more sound sleepers.

Next, she pulled out the only marker on the base. A thick, black permanent maker that left smudges on her fingers. On the sides and back, she drew various shapes and images. While she regretted the lack of color, the black stood out easily on their paint job.

Finally, she found a step stool and climbed on it. The girl leaned over and used her glue stick, glitter, and black marker to finish up the roofs of the cars. As she stepped down, she smiled with pride. Now, they would be too embarrassed to bother Ironhide. They didn't seem like the type to appreciate being the target of another's prank.

She walked over to where the familiar black truck sat quietly. She leaned over and gave the hood a light kiss. While she didn't dare speak out loud, she still thought it.

"Nighty-night, Ironhide. Love you."

* * *

As a very sleepy Sam, Mikaela, Wheelie, and wide-awake Bumblebee reached the base in the grey morning light, the boy couldn't help but complain.

"Why'd the ship arrive at this time? We could still be sleeping for a little longer. No decent person, human or Autobot, is up at this time. If they wanted to stop the Decepticons, all they have to do is wake them up at this hour. They'd surrender just so they could go back to sleep," yawned the boy.

Mikaela gave him a slight shove, "Oh, quit complaining. You should be glad we got here about half an hour early."

Her boyfriend groaned dramatically, "Sleeeep!"

His Camaro-shaped friend answered this statement with a rooster crow coming from his speakers.

As they pulled up to the building the Autobots spent most of their time in during their off-hours, a pair of horrified screams sounded.

* * *

Annabelle was already awake when chaos broke out. Her mommy flinched as the shouts started, but the girl was already running out of the room.

"Annabelle, come back here," her parent called worriedly, likely afraid of what could be causing the problem.

The girl wasn't, though. She knew exactly who it was and why they were screaming. She spotted a familiar yellow car as she arrived at the scene, her mother following. This meant that Bumblebee and his friends were present. But her attention was on two figures.

The rest of the Autobots were also staring, Ironhide's cannons humming from preparing for whatever threat was present. But nothing dangerous was there. Only two confused and freaked out twins.

All across their armor was sparkly flowers done in glitter, drawings of houses, vehicles, trees, and even the sun drawn by marker, and smiley faces made in both. Every inch that had been reachable in their car forms was now decorated by her work. They looked like a crazy arts and craft project. And they were pointing at each other, screaming.

"Did you do this?" asked Mudflap, indicating his new appearance.

"Yeah," Skids glared, "and I did it to myself too since it was such a hoot. Of course not, moron."

Annabelle loved how every other Autobot, Sam, Mikaela, her mommy, and the soldiers who had run out to see the disturbance fought against laughter and failed miserably. Then, Bumblebee played a fun choice of song.

"You are beautiful. No matter what they say."

"Shut up," shouted the orange twin. "This isn't funny."

Sam laughed, "Oh yes this is. I would kill for a camera."

"I love it," chuckled Wheelie. "Life was not nearly this interesting before I met up with you guys."

"Alright, who's the wise guy who did this?" demanded Skids.

Annabelle stepped forward and carefully formulated her answer in Cybertronian, the electronic sounds flowing from her mouth. "No make plans front enemy. Enemy make better plans after."

She then turned and walked away, leaving stunned expression on all the listeners' faces. Except Ironhide, who was chuckling softly to himself.


	8. Beach

Neither Sarah's scolding at the immaturity of all the soldiers who were cheering at the child's actions nor the twins' complaints that the marker "wasn't coming off" quite put a damper on the mood. Sam and Mikaela was dying of laughter, the boy wondering why he hadn't thought of something this good beforehand. Wheelie, the former Decepticon, was wondering if they were all insane and would it happen to him. The triplets shook their heads at the insanity, smiles not quite hidden on their faces. But Ironhide was enjoying every minute of young Annabelle's achievement.

"Since when do five year olds speak Cybertronian?" asked Sam, his face was alight with humor. "And what did she say?"

"I'll tell you," snickered the small red-eyed mech beside him and his girlfriend. "She essentially told off the Duo of Disaster and called them idiots for talking about their plans in front of her."

Mudflap slapped his brother's head, "See? This is why we need to work on our plans more carefully."

"You were right there too, announcing our ideas for all to hear," shot back Skids, smacking him back. "I didn't hear you mentioning that we had to be careful of her at the time."

Ironhide fought the urge to take their heads and smash them together again. But as satisfying as it would be, Sarah was already storming down on the two.

"You were discussing one of your immature and possibly dangerous stunts in front of _my_ child?"

Two sets of blue optics stared at her. Even if they were taller, stronger, and armed with advanced weaponry, the woman's tone was one that inspired fear in all that she brought her anger down upon them. Ironhide once more imagined an interesting scenario including her, armed with a cannon, turned loose on a large number of Decepticons. It ended with her standing atop Megatron's broken body. The black mech shook his head slightly before he went much further. As interesting an idea as it was, he didn't want to be the one to unleash a monster onto the unsuspecting universe.

"…We… didn't mean to?" suggested the orange twin hopefully.

The woman's eyes narrowing further implied she would not accept that answer.

"…We… didn't know she would… understand us?" the green one tried.

Will struggled to keep from laughing aloud. The look his wife was giving to the two Autobots was fun, especially when it wasn't directed at him. But he knew that if he actually started laughing, she would turn on him and yell at him for "supporting this kind of behavior from the twins and from their own daughter." It was better if he kept quiet and simply enjoyed the doodling that covered the pair.

Chromia chuckled softly, "I'm impressed with your child, Mrs. Lennox. Anyone who can pull such a trick upon those two is truly gifted."

"This wasn't exactly what I wanted for her to excel at," the mother sighed.

"Um… I know that you are busy glaring at the twins," interrupted Sam carefully, "but Annabelle just wandered off. And it's not my fault because it's way too early and I just got here and she can't be controlled anyway. Between water balloons, spray guns, and markers, she's unstoppable."

Sarah spun, seeing he was right about her daughter's absence, and slowly closed her eyes. "I just woke up and now all this is happening. I don't care who or how, but somebody will find her. I'm going to change and when I get back, either you will have Annabelle here or you better have a good reason not to still be looking."

Then, she turned and walked back to her room, still wearing her nightgown. Before she made it ten feet, all the humans and Autobots had dispersed. As they scattered to find the child, Sam asked an important question.

"What's up with the twins' voices?"

* * *

The young girl found her way to the small beach not far from the base. If this island had possessed a large one with fine, white sand, no doubt a cruise line or a rich guy with way too much free time would have bought it long ago. This beach was short with grainy particles of a darker variety. While this wasn't as picturesque, it served her purpose fine. She sat down and began work on a sand castle.

"There you are," sighed a semi-familiar voice.

She spun around and met the red eyes of a smaller robotic being.

"Hi Wheelie," she greeted. "How are you?"

"Fine. Me, Warrior Goddess, and the joker just arrived with his car when we find you decided to redecorate the Bumbling Idiots," explained the ex-Decepticon. "And now your mother is growling at everyone she can. When you vanished, she 'suggested' that we find you."

The girl frowned, "Uh-oh, she'll be mad at me, won't she?"

"I wouldn't put it past her," he nodded. "But, from what I seen, she's more likely to kill _us_ over you disappearing rather than you. And I wouldn't want to be in the line of fire."

Annabelle thought about that, "Yeah, Mommy worries about me. So does Daddy and Ironhide, but she's louder about it."

The tiny robot chuckled, "I've noticed, between her and Warrior Goddess, the femmes of you species are far more dangerous to anger. I can only imagine what kind of horrors you'll commit as you gain experience at this kind of thing."

The child caught sight of a black shape coming into view behind Wheelie and smiled. "I like to play tricks and stuff. But that doesn't mean I'll be mean in the future. I'll be good. Just like you're a good robot now."

"With Ironhide around, you stand a good chance of being a little monster," warned Wheelie. "He'll turn you into a trigger-happy, gun-toting soldier just like him that'll rain destruction down on…"

He was interrupted by the sound of an engine revving up behind him. The ex-Decepticon shouted in surprise as the girl giggled. The small robot turned to see the topic of his description right behind him in vehicle mode.

"Uh… I'll… be going now," Wheelie decided, transforming and fleeing across the uneven sandy surface.

"Hi Ironhide," smiled Annabelle. "Is Mommy mad?"

"A little," he informed her. "But not as much as you would think, considering her past behavior. I think she might have been impressed at your achievement as well."

She shrugged, "They were going to prank you. I stopped them."

Her oldest friend chuckled, "Trust me. Their pride has suffered greatly for this one. Out-matched by a child. They will never live this down. And your drawings are not coming off easily."

"They are prettier that way," giggled Annabelle. "And sparklier. I just didn't have any other colors, just black."

"Trust me. Black was perfect," assured Ironhide.


	9. Love

Sarah Lennox was mad at her daughter. Not so much for her prank on the twins (though she tried to look firm and parental about the entire thing, she was trying not to laugh at the memory of the two trying to get permanent marker off and was just as equally amused as anyone. She just had to act like an adult after all. No one else was going to), but because Annabelle had tried to wander off without any kind of supervision. Thus the five year old was informed she was not allowed to go anywhere unless she was with her parents, an Autobot, or another appropriate baby-sitter of her mother's choice. Technically, that rule was supposed to already be in place, but now Sarah was enforcing it more strongly.

Thus, Sam and Mikaela, who had arrived at the island to relax and enjoy their vacation, found them watching the child play on the beach. The older girl had already expected this, but that didn't stop Sam from bemoaning his fate of not being able to spend quality time with his beautiful girlfriend. The young man was on a beach, away from the rest of the world (or at least, out of sight of the beach…) and the dark haired girl he had been in love with since he stopped thinking girls were "icky" was with him. There was only a few problems with his plan to sweep her off her feet like out of some sappy chick flick. One, he didn't think he had the skills to pull off that kind of romantic-ness. He'd probably drop her when he tried the whole "sweep her off her feet" routine and the mood would be completely destroyed if she ended up eating sand. Two, there were way too many witnesses.

Annabelle kept glancing at the older human pair as she sculpted the grainy particles into shapes of her own design. Wheelie was sulking nearby. He avoided the salt water like a cat would and kept muttering about the "stupid sand" getting everywhere. Sam still didn't like the tiny ex-Decepticon greatly. His red optics narrowed every time the boy drew near Mikaela. The toy truck acted as if spending time with his girlfriend was a crime equal to murder. Sam wanted to have Bumblebee run over the little guy sometimes. Mikaela treated the thing like a puppy, or an annoying little cousin, and kept him with her (though that might have been to make sure he stayed out of trouble).

A grin formed on his dark-haired companion, "So, is this how you imagined things when you asked me to get into the car?"

"Well, the robo-rat is a surprise," he smirked, pointing at the now glaring blue Cybertronian. She shoved him playfully before he continued. "But this is exactly what I hoped for."

"What? Us being on a military base occupied by humans and aliens, thousands of miles from home?" she asked.

Sam shook his head, "No. Me and you on a tropical beach somewhere that no one in our town has ever heard of, let alone been to. Just the sun, the surf, and us…"

"Are you going to kiss now?" asked Annabelle curiously, breaking the moment.

"Uh… oh… Hey, we were…" stammered Sam while Mikaela laughed and Wheelie groaned.

The child continued, "You like her and she likes you. Isn't it supposed to be that simple? When you love somebody and they love you back, you let them know by kissing them or hugging them or getting married or just being there because they want to see you, right?"

The older boy blinked at the girl. She had summarized the complicated issue of love in just a few sentences. And she had done it rather nicely. Of course it oversimplified things, like how he had to meet an alien race before the girl of his dreams would even notice him. Or how he died (temporarily) before he could work up the nerves to tell her how he really felt. He was dreading what kind of situation would have to arise before he could do something else with their relationship, like marriage. Yike! Marriage was a creepy thought.

"It's… a little more complicated than that," tried Sam.

Annabelle shook her head, "No, it's just harder if you let it. Why don't you kiss her? I won't giggle."

"Mikaela help me out here, plea…" the boy tried to request, but was interrupted by a pair of lips.

The little girl kept her word, but a certain Cybertronian groaned dramatically at the sight. A look from the "Warrior Goddess" silenced him. When they finished, the boy smiled gently.

"Are you two working together on this?" he asked softly. "Or is this chance rather than an evil plan?"

This produced a giggle from the five year old. Then she looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Mikaela, can I ask you something? A secret?" Annabelle asked.

She smiled sweetly at her, "Sure. Sam, why don't you and Wheelie go see if you can find a bucket or a shovel. That way we can build a proper sand castle."

"Banished with the toy truck?" smirked Sam. "I feel so betrayed." He tried to look dramatically depressed, but he didn't seem that upset. Likely he would enjoy getting away from the child's questions. "I'll go find someone who appreciates my company."

* * *

"Okay, Annabelle," Mikaela asked, "what is it?"

"How did you and Sam get to be boyfriend and girlfriend?"

The older girl wondered how to answer that. She couldn't really say that after a strange car ride, nearly getting killed over the weekend, getting dragged off by an even-grumpier-than-now Simmons, and actually getting to know the dork that she ignored for most of her life, she realized that they had become "something" without her even noticing. She could not pinpoint the point where he went from a babbling idiot that she didn't really notice to a babbling guy she couldn't live without. But Annabelle wanted to know something.

"We… just sort of… did," she tried to explain miserably. "We figured out that… after everything that had happened to us… we had more in common with each other than anyone. We… kind of… just realized we fell in love without noticing."

"Was it hard to tell him you _like_ him?" pressed the child.

"Kind of. When I was in school, he wasn't the kind of person I usually hung out with," the older girl explained, not mentioning the kind of boys she used to date. "It was a surprise to him, me, and the rest of the school when we realized that we… were a couple."

"… Did Sam or you say it first? That you like each other as more than friends?"

Mikaela narrowed her eyes a little, "Why are you so curious, Annabelle? Is there a boy at school you like a lot?"

She shook her head, "No, but… Can you keep a secret? A really big one?" As the older girl nodded, Annabelle continued, "Ironhide is my best friend. And at the party, when we had everybody come, I saw something important."

"What?"

"He _likes_ Chromia. A lot. And he hasn't told her or anybody. And I don't know if she likes him a bunch too. I don't know if I should try and help him or how to help him," explained the child, her words flowing from her mouth quickly.

Mikaela blinked, picturing the weapon specialist in her mind as she tried to comprehend the child's assertion. While the idea of Ironhide in love with anything except his cannons was hard when she thought about him in battle, blasting away and destroying opponents effectively. On the other hand, seeing his interactions with Annabelle showed that there was more to him than simply a warrior. Of course, she knew that Autobots were just as complex, if not more so, as human beings. Thus the idea that the black transformed truck having a crush on one of the triplets should not have been as surprising as it was.

She gave the young girl a comforting look, "If Ironhide really loves Chromia, he'll let her know eventually. It took a lot to have Sam admit it to me, even though we both knew he did. Trying to get Ironhide to hurry up will only make it harder for him."

Annabelle sighed, "Okay… But he'll be happier if he tells Chromia. Aren't you and Sam happier? I want him to be happy because he's my friend and he'll be really happy if he tells her."

Mikaela hugged the sweet child, "You're too nice sometimes. Besides, until he works up the courage, he'll have you to make sure he's happy. Even if it is something as simple as giving the twins a taste of their own medicine."

"Thanks," smiled the girl. "But he better hurry up. They would be so nice together."


	10. Target Practice

"Ironhide, where are we going?" asked Annabelle.

The mech carried her in his hand, taking care not to jostle her and still move with some speed. When he asked if she would like to come with him somewhere special, she requested that he carry her. Rather than argue that she could ride in his truck form, the Autobot agreed. Besides, Sarah would likely already be upset if she knew what he had in mind. A little ride on his hand would not change anything and it would make the child happy.

"You mustn't inform your mother of this," explained the weapon specialist. "She would not approve, but you will be perfectly safe."

The girl thought a moment before nodding, "Okay, I trust you. Mommy worries too much anyway. You wouldn't let me get hurt."

Nodding, the Cybertronian smiled, "I thought you might enjoy accompanying me for a little… target practice."

Taking the child's squeal of delight as an affirmative, they continued to where some ideal targets were awaiting them on the practice field.

* * *

Ironhide brought her somewhere away from the main part of the base. It was a field with lots of demolish-able objects of various sizes were scattered around. Each one had a small bull's-eye on it, demonstrating that it was a target. Surprisingly, they were not alone.

"Hi Chromia," waved the girl. "Ironhide is going to blow stuff up. Did you come to shoot stuff too?"

The transformed motorcycle laughed, "Mrs. Lennox is going to kill you for this."

"Nu-uh, I promised not to tell Mommy," disagreed Annabelle. "That way, no one gets in trouble. Besides, she worries too much. I'll be fine."

The femme shook her head, "If you and Ironhide wish to risk the wrath of Sarah Lennox, that is up to you. I'll mourn your passing."

"Stop that, she wouldn't kill us," grumbled Ironhide.

"No, she'd just steal one of the soldiers' weapons and blast you into a million pieces," laughed Chromia, enjoying herself.

"Mommy isn't that mean," defended the child.

Ironhide assured, "No, she isn't. She's just protective of you. Chromia is just having fun because she knows she can't beat me on the target range."

"Is that so?" the femme asked. "Let's put that to the test."

The two Cybertronians selected a target in the field. Annabelle carefully covered her ears. As soon as her hearing was protected, the pair opened fire. Rocks, empty oil drums, and other targets began to explode in the fury of their attacks. Within a few minutes, broken rubble and twisted scraps of metal littered the ground. When there were nothing left, the Autobots lowered their weapons.

"I win," remarked a smug weapon specialist.

"Just because you're able to pulverize multiple targets with a single shot at times. In my case, I actually took aim. I can hit a target without destroying everything within a mile," argued Chromia.

"Do it again!" Annabelle shouted. "That was fun."

"Well, we're out of targets…" began Ironhide before a grin began forming. "On second thought, would you like to help us first?"

* * *

Mudflap and Skids had discovered that permanent marker actually means _permanent_. They were considering adding this to their arsenal of prank tools, but the use of it would remind everyone (especially Sideswipe, who was still laughing) that a human child had bested them. They may not be the proudest pair, but they still took some pride in their prankster ability. Thus, the scribbling across their bodies was very humiliating. In the end, they had to opt for a new paint job.

"Dat girl is evil," muttered Skids, falling back into their old speaking style while they pair were alone. "When she gits bigger, she iz joinin' us in prankin' da others."

"No way evah," Mudflap shook his head. "I ain't goin' near 'er again."

Neither of the twins was ready to become soaking wet. They shouted in surprise as they became under assault. Small things kept hitting them and exploding in flood of water.

"Duck n' cover!" yelled the green twin, trying to escape the attack.

* * *

On the hillside, Chromia and Ironhide held out an arm for Annabelle roll over a few more water balloons. Technically, they were too large to count as normal water balloons. But no one would miss a few tarps. Besides, a few of the soldiers that had watched them prepare their ammo had been impressed that you _could_ fill them with water and tie them off. If you happen to be a giant Cybertronian.

"Are you afraid that this will give them more ideas?" asked Chromia.

Ironhide shrugged, "It might, but they still make great targets until then."

"Water balloons? It seems to be effective ammo if one does not wish to harm the targets," the femme remarked. "And I assume that we don't want to harm those two. For now."

"I think they were using slang again too," grinned the weapon specialist. "Annabelle, could you hand me the big one? I think I can hit both of them at the same time with it."


	11. Bedtime

"So, you and Ironhide tossed oversized water balloons at the twins?" laughed Sam. "Made out of tarps?"

"Chromia helped too," Annabelle reminded the older boy. "Just don't tell Mommy. She'd get mad."

He nodded, "Of course I won't tell her. You don't have to tell parents everything that goes on."

Mikaela smacked him on the back of his head. "What kind of role model are you being? You are supposed to set an example for her, not teach her how to be even more trouble. You are, officially, a horrible baby-sitter."

"I think that became official when the five year old knocked me to the ground," grinned Sam. "Or when she attacked me with a water gun from behind. Or maybe it was when she and Ironhide half-drowned me with water balloons at her birthday. You can't trust me with kids. They'll beat me every time."

"Makes you wonder why the Lennox family keeps calling you," muttered Wheelie.

"Because Ironhide scares away anyone else," smiled the child. "Jennifer didn't like him driving around the house when she wasn't looking. Or when he honked his horn when she almost fell asleep."

The tiny Cybertronian blinked his ruby optics, "So, the only reason that anyone trusts Sir Screams-a-lot here with any kind of responsibility is because there isn't anyone else?"

The boy looked skywards in the classic "why me?" as the former Decepticon burst out laughing. The two humans and one Cybertronian were supposed to watch the child for the evening while her parents spent some quality time together. They were supposed to get her ready for bed, but she decided to delay going to sleep by sharing the day's acivities. Sam loved every minute of it. Until Wheelie decided to have some fun at his expense.

"Be nice Wheelie," instructed Mikaela. "Sam's very responsible. I'd like to see you handle Annabelle on your own."

"Warrior Goddess, unlike him, I know when not to attempt the impossible," the miniature Cybertronian chuckled. "She's crazy."

"Whatever you say, Junior," teased Sam, reminding the ex-Decepticon of Annabelle calling him a baby.

"Alright, enough fooling around," instructed the older girl. "It's late. Annabelle, you need to go to sleep. You've had a busy few days of terrorizing the twins, playing on the beach, and watching things get blown up."

"But I'm not sleepy," the child whined in the classic style of all children. "Can't I stay up a little longer?"

Sam nodded, "Sure you can."

"Sam!" scolded his girlfriend.

"But the only one who'll be awake with you is Simmons," he continued. "So if you stay up late, you'll have to spend time talking with him."

The girl wrinkled her nose, "The stupid-head? No, thank you. He was weird and kept asking questions." She pulled her blanket over her head. "Good night."

As the three left the room, Wheelie had to ask, "How did you know that would work?"

"I talked to a few people," shrugged the boy. "Those two ran into each other before. He annoyed her, trying to prove that a kid can't keep a secret. He kept bombarding her with questions. She retaliated by making him look like an idiot by not falling for his tricks. In the end, she made him lose his temper and look like a complete fool."

"Can't be that hard with that guy," muttered Wheelie. "I really don't think he's the brightest of your species. But being out-witted by a child is a little sad."


	12. Race

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" sighed Mikaela for the millionth time.

Sam simply smiled, "This will be fun. Haven't you always wanted to see this happen? And you know that every member of NEST would kill to see this too. And since Epps volunteered to distract the responsible people from the area, it is the perfect time to try this. When will we ever get another chance?"

"Come on," begged Annabelle, a small helmet strapped to her head. "It'll be fun. You and Wheelie can cheer us on. Me and Chromia are going to win."

"Shouldn't she be cheering for her boyfriend and his best bud?" asked the older boy. "All that talk of love and loyalty and you're tossing it away to side with the cute little kid on a bike? Bumblebee, I'm on your side at least. Even if no one else will support us, we shall conquer all foes! Together, we shall demonstrate our superiority."

The young child giggled at his dramatic pose he struck behind the driver's seat. She wished Ironhide was here to watch, but if he got here too soon, he'd try to convince her to not participate or to ride in his cab. But she'd already promised Chromia to go with her. Ironhide should arrive in time to watch, but not to prevent the event.

The yellow vehicle answered with a sound clip, singing, "We are the champions of the world!"

The event was already gathering the attention of many members of NEST. The Autobots Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Chromia, Mudflap, and Skids were lined up in vehicle mode, each bearing a passenger. Sam rode with his guardian and Annabelle clung to the motorcycle triplet. The other three were claimed by various soldiers that would never pass up the opportunity. Optimus, Ratchet, and Ironhide were no where in sight, as well as the Lennox couple and Epps, who'd volunteered to keep them distracted. Jolt, Arcee, and Flareup were remaining on the sidelines in order to keep the event from becoming too overwelming large. Thus, there were Autobots along with the human soldiers waiting to watch the show eagerly.

"No way," laughed Mudflap. "I don't care if you took out Mega-dork once. You aren't going to win this."

Skids added, "No one can top the twins when we get going."

"Says the poor losers beaten by the five year old," teased Sideswipe. "Honestly, your pitiful display of inferior pranking ability is an insult to all twins."

"Hurry up," prompted Mikaela, her dark hair getting caught by a particularly strong breeze. "Annabelle's parents, not to mention Ironhide, should be showing up soon. I think you'd rather get done _before_ you get killed by Mrs. Lennox."

"Fine, fine," her boyfriend responded. He stuck his head out the window and shouted in a radio announcer voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, humans and Cybertronians of all ages, I am happy to announce the first annual Autobot/Human Race! The rules are simple: one Cybertronian and one human passenger will go around the island, avoiding trees, innocent bystanders, and the sand trap that is the beach and return her. No transforming, no weapons, and no _pranks_! If you crash, you lose and have to deal with a ticked-off Ratchet. You must make the whole trip with your human or you are disqualified. The first one to make it back wins and gets to be the first one to explain to Optimus, Ironhide, and/or Sarah why we did this and why we involved Annabelle. Mikaela and Wheelie are the judges, with Jolt being our tie-breaker if needed. Any questions?"

"What's going on here?" interrupted Ironhide.

The group jumped as the weapon specialist, Ratchet, Optimus Prime, and generally everyone who Epps was supposed to distract approached the gathering. The man ran ahead of the coming threat to the race, looking panicked.

"Go! Go! Go!" he yelled, waving his arm.

"Hi Ironhide! Wish me luck," called Annabelle.

"Ready, set," grinned Wheelie. "Go!"

With the ex-Decepticon's words, the five vehicles took off at a neck-breaking speed. As Annabelle and Chromia raced out of ear-shot, the girl could have sworn she heard her mom screaming for her to get off. The motorcycle weaved in and out of the larger vehicles easily, gaining ground as the group sped out of sight of the base.

The girl laughed as they followed the road towards the water. Though they would not drive on the sand and it's shifting surface, they would need to be near it in order to completely circle the island. As they neared Bumblebee, song filtered out of his open window and could be barely heard over the rushing wind.

"Get your motor running. Head out on the highway! Looking for adventure and whatever comes our way!"

The young Lennox girl smiled as they rounded the next turn, missing a slow-moving vehicle, non-Cybertronian and uninvolved in the race, by less than a foot. Chromia and the yellow Camaro were even, their young riders having the time of their life. A very short distance behind them, no more than five feet, was Sideswipe. Mudflap and Skids were spending more time arguing and trying to one-up the other to be real competition.

As they moved off pavement to the surrounding forest, Sam stuck his head out the window. His hair whipped wildly as the wind raced by. The older boy decided that to sing along with Bumblebee.

"Born to be wild! Born to be wild!"

Unfortunately, he was forced to yank his head in quickly in order to not be decapitated by a tree trunk. Chromia easily weaved around the obstacles. While the larger vehicles were dealing with the challenge of fitting between the trees, she was forced to take care not to dislodge the young child riding with her. Even with the helmet, she would be killed if she fell at this speed. Of course, Chromia wouldn't let her.

As they pulled back onto the road, the triplet decided to show off a little. Popping a wheelie, she pulled in front of the yellow Camaro and taking the lead. Her efforts won her a happy squeal from Annabelle, a frown from Sam, and Bumblebee increasing in speed. Sideswipe, hoping to take advantage of the motorcycle's stunt as a distraction, tried to edge around the car. Bumblebee swung over to prevent this from occurring. No where in sight were the arguing pair, Mudflap and Skids. Doubtless, their fighting and bickering were slowing them down.

As the end came into view, the yellow vehicle redoubled his efforts to regain the lead. Sam and his guardian intended to try to gain the title of victor, regardless of the consequences that the entire race would cause from those waiting for them. Especially Sarah, since the young man had volunteered to baby-sit her daughter today with the sole intent of having her participate. The entire event had been originally his, the twins, Epps, and Sideswipe's idea. Not that the young girl didn't want to ride anyway...

Annabelle smiled at the gathering of Autobots, soldiers, and her parents. The chalk line drawn by Mikaela was in sight. If they could keep in front for just a little further...

The yellow and black Camaro tried to pass the motorcycle, the speeds of the two vehicles far from safe. Unfortunately, they crossed the line seconds before Bumblebee passed the girl and Cybertronian. Sideswipe came in a close third place to them. The twins, unsurprisingly, were no where in sight.

The gathered spectators, minus the "responsible ones" were cheering, yelling, and whistling. Wheelie and Mikaela clapped, the ex-Decepticon looking to actually be enjoying himself (or he might just be enjoying Sam's defeat). Will Lennox tried to look serious, but a hint of grin lit his features. Sarah looked furious.

Chromia pulled to a halt, stopping directly in front of Ironhide. He seemed to speechless.

"We won, Ironhide," the child informed him. "Me and Chromia beat Bumblebee and Sam. That was fun."

Ratchet was shaking his head, "Do you know how much damage you could have done to yourselves? If you'd crashed, I'd let you repair yourselves. That was reckless. Where are those two troublemakers?"

"Somewhere back there," answered the soldier who'd rode with Sideswipe. "I think they got distracted from the race."

"Why am I not surprised?" sighed the transformed ambulence.

Sarah gave Sam a glare, "Should I ask? Should I ask why my daughter, who I left in your care, just participated in some kind of high-speed street race? Should I ask why Epps tried to keep us away from here with some flimsy excuse? Should I ask whose idea this was in the first place so I know who to 'discuss' this with?"

Sam shook his head quickly, "No, I don't think you should ask those questions because I'd rather survive to see my next birthday, madam. I think everyone would be happier not learning those answers. Or at least, they'd live a longer life." Seeing that his words were having little effect in pacifying the woman, he glanced at the car he still sat in. "Bumblebee, floor it!"

As the vehicle took off once more at speed, Epps tried to run after it. "Wait, take me with you. Don't leave me to die!"


	13. Results

"You have to wonder," commented Mikaela slowly, "how long they plan to drive away from her. Because whenever they get back, she'll still be waiting for them."

"Don't know," Lennox grinned, "but Sarah can keep a grudge for quite a while. By the way, why wasn't I invited?"

"Cause Mommy would find out about it and then you'd get in trouble too," smiled his daughter. "It was supposed to be a surprise." She glanced up at Ironhide, "I would have rode with you, but I already promised Chromia. Are you mad?"

Mikaela grinned as the weapon specialist essentially melted under the child's hopeful gaze, "No, I'm not mad, Annabelle. I'm surprised. And I'm concerned about the welfare of Sam, Bumblebee, and Epps, but not mad."

The young girl giggled as she glanced over at where her parent chewed out the very apologetic Epps. The boy and Camaro were still out of sight, likely trying to find the farthest location reachable on the island.

"And we won," bragged the Lennox child. "We beat Sam, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, and the twins even. It was fun. Next time, you and Chromia can race and I'll take turns riding with you."

Mikaela watched carefully, trying to notice his reaction. Indeed, the Cybertronian did seem to look a little different when the femme's name was mentioned. Clearly, Annabelle was correct about his feelings towards the motorcycle. And the child had confided in the older girl that she wanted to try and have the pair have fun together. Could she have planned this? Promising to ride with Chromia in order to create a situation in which she convince was Ironhide would wish to join in? Or did she develop this idea later, when the idea of the race first appeared among the humans and Cybertronians. Or did the child simply devise it now, on the spot? Or, maybe she was giving Annabelle too much credit. It might be just an innocent attempt to play with her best friend and decided to invite another along.

Glancing at Annabelle's face, Mikaela wondered what went on in the mind of that five year old. She was bright for her age and did notice more than one expected. Maybe growing up with a sentient vehicle in the backyard simply made her more open-minded and observant. After all, she knew that things were not always what they appeared. So, she kept an eye out for clues to the true nature of events. Thus, a small girl realizes a crush between to alien beings before anyone else.

Smiling, Mikaela watched as Ironhide nodded to the child's suggestion. Even young Annabelle was more than meets the eye at times. From the smug look on her face, she _wanted_ to have the two Cybertronians spend time together. She wanted to get them together and she was doing it subtly.

Breaking off her train of thought, two more vehicles sped over. Two tired-looking soldiers climbed out and stumbled away. Sarah marched over to where the twins, still in vehicle mode, were arguing over which one was at fault for them losing the race. Likely, they hadn't even noticed the approach of the woman.

"And I suppose you two had something to do with this?" she asked coldly.

A moment of stunned silence from the pair passed before the orange one revved his engine.

"Run! Crazy human on the rampage! Flee for your lives!" he screamed.

The green and orange cars flew into reverse and raced away. Likely, they'd find Sam and Bee when they sought sanctuary from the increasingly infuriated Sarah Lennox. Mikaela chuckled at them. The image of centuries old beings from another galaxy shouting in terror of a small human housewife a fraction of their size and fleeing her wrath never grew old.


	14. Scolding

Simmons, in the past, faced giant non-biological extraterrestrials (NBE's) without flinching. He'd maintained a level of dignity and scorn even when he was handcuffed, stripped of his pants by the criminal girlfriend of Witwicky, and _lubricated_ by the large yellow robot he now knew as Bumblebee. He held fast in the face of firing, disgrace, and banishment to the torturous world of his mother's deli. He'd even traveled across the globe to face violent Hoover-vacuum wannabe Decepticons on the pyramids, unwavering even knowing he was one man, abandoned by the country he loved and it's only hope (Leo still didn't count). What the former Sector Seven member now faced could not be any worse, right?

"Did you actually try to _bully_ my child? To _interrogate_ her like a criminal?" the woman demanded to know, her eyes burning into the man.

Somehow the rumors that circulated across the base, passing from human to Cybertronian, soldier to civilian, worked their way to the last person who needed to know. While most focused on the idea that the government agent had been out-smarted by a five year old child, Sarah Lennox grew concerned at the treatment of her daughter. When she stormed towards Simmons, the others in the area suddenly remembered that they needed to be somewhere else. Doubtless, the twins, Epps, Will, Sam, and a number of other curious beings remained in ear (or audio sensor) range, but they didn't dare intrude on the woman's rant.

But the stubborn man didn't reach his current position (or the one he held before being fired and discharged back into civilian life and selling sandwiches) by backing down from a challenge. He drew himself up to full height and returned a glare at the mother.

"I was simply confirming your husband's submission that, even with her young age, your daughter could be trusted to maintain her silence under careful examination."

The woman's eyes narrowed dangerously, "You tried to prove she _couldn't_ be trusted. Don't deny that. It's all over the base. You were hoping that she would demonstrate your point."

"Madam, I was only…" he began.

"Don't 'madam' me, buster," she interrupted. "That makes me sound old and defenseless. Sam tried that with me and it doesn't work. You will refer to me as either Mrs. Lennox or Sarah. Because of your behavior, 'Mrs. Lennox' is what I would prefer. Now, I believe you were about to try and formulate an excuse for your actions."

" _Madam_ ," he repeated, stressing the word, "I was only trying to maintain the high security standards that NEST requires to exist. This includes a high level of secrecy by all members and limiting classified information to only a _select_ few individuals."

If anything, the atmosphere of the conversation grew colder. All the hidden listeners flinched in sympathy. Will and Epps quietly took bets on which of the arguers would leave alive. The twins were preparing to take notes on any strategies that worked on either of the humans.

"Listen, you pompous, self-righteous, big-headed joker," she snarled softly. "Just out of curiosity, if you actually succeeded in out-witting a child, what was your plan then? Arrest a five year old? Stick her with a gag order? Remove her from the rest of the world and isolate her? Try some kind of stolen alien technology and remove her memory? Just what did you plan to do to my child, Simmons?"

Somewhere in his mind, the idea that antagonizing this woman further could be damaging to his health began to form. She didn't have an intimidating build. She wasn't a giant robot, armed with advanced weaponry. She wasn't even _his own_ mother. Logically, there was little to fear from her. But her personality was overwhelming. It swept over those she turned her attention to and left the sense that she _could_ fulfill any threat she would make. If Sarah Lennox claimed she would blast anyone who threatened her family, few would doubt that she would find a way to blast them. But Simmons couldn't back down. His pride would never allow him.

"Mada… Mrs. Lennox," he soothed. "I would only do what I felt was necessary to protect the NEST program and, of course, your daughter. There would be no harm done to the child."

"If you ever try anything like this again," she hissed, "to any of my family, I swear I'll…"

"Mommy, why are you mad at the annoying man?"

Both adults turned to see Annabelle watching them closely. She seemed unaware of the tenseness of the situation and simply walked over to them. She glanced at Simmons and smiled.

"Are you being nosy again? It was really annoying, but kind of funny when you talked to me. You kind of turn red when you get frustrated, did you know that? Maybe you should talk to Ratchet and see if your head is going to explode like in a cartoon."

"Annabelle, sweetheart, we're having a grown-up talk right now," her mother explained, her earlier anger hidden as she spoke to her child. "Why don't you go play?"

"I wanted to, but everyone is busy or listening to you and Mr. Simmons," sighed the girl, pointing at where the audience hid.

Sarah turned towards the indicated direction, glaring as Sam, Will, and others began sheepishly poking their heads out and waving. Simmons, slightly glad for the change of target, added his own look.

"I believe that you should be going now," she frowned the gathering. "If you don't have something to do, I'm sure I can find something for you. And what I find, you won't like."

"Quit wasting time," the agent added, before walking away in a business-like manner and _not_ retreating to safety.

"Mudflap, Skids," smiled Sarah suddenly. Her grin was not friendly as she studied the twins intently. The unfortunate pair, too slow in leaving, paused at her voice. "Why don't you take Annabelle to the beach? I'm sure you can do that _and keep a close eye on her._ After all, I know that you won't let anything happen to her, right?"

The twins, the head drooping in defeat, gestured for the child to join them. Annabelle ran over to the pair, apparently unaware of the dangerous situation she'd defused.


	15. Twin Babysitters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One word: Trouble.

"This is a bad idea," muttered Skids. "Something is going to go wrong and we'll get the blame."

Mudflap stared at his twin, "We're always in trouble. Are you telling me that one little human woman is going to scare you more than Ratchet or any other 'bot we prank?"

The green and orange Autobots exchanged looks before silently agreeing that, yes, Sarah Lennox _was_ worse. Her personality far exceeded her height, and her fury made her seem to tower over her targets. Thus, their current dilemma of being Annabelle's baby-sitter.

"Come on, we're going to the beach," she coaxed. "I thought you turned into cars. Why are you two a bunch of slowpokes?" The child began giggling at her joke. "It will be fun and I promise not to draw on you."

The two shuddered at the memory of her "drawings" and the pure humiliation of the event. No doubt they would continue to hear about this until the girl's _grandkids_ die of old age. It was horrible to know that they'd been shown up by one so young and inexperienced in the art of tricks.

Suddenly, the girl spotted something that caught her attention. She broke into a run and scooped it up. For a moment she held a blue toy truck in her arms before it transformed.

"Hey, watch it, Shorty," Wheelie complained. "I may look like a toy sometimes, but that don't mean you can treat me like one."

"Sorry," she frowned. "But I wanted to know if you'd like to come and play on the beach with me and the twins. Mommy told them to watch me."

"Well, I don't like sand that much…," began the former Decepticon, before glancing at the two pranksters. "Wait, _they're_ watching you?"

"Yep!" the child nodded.

Wheelie grinned evilly, "There is no way I'd miss that. Those two and you on a beach, with no other supervision, equal so many opportunities… I think I'll join you."

The twins groaned at the addition of more witnesses. No doubt any trouble that might develop (and, considering that she spends so much time with Ironhide, her abilities to make a Cybertronian suffer could be endless) would now be shared with everyone via the tiny ex-Decepticon. Neither paid attention as the small blue being muttered to himself.

"Besides, Warrior Goddess likes her and I wouldn't trust these two with the kid."

* * *

As rude as it was to think it, Annabelle couldn't help but feel that the twins weren't good baby-sitters. You were supposed to watch and even entertain whoever you watch. You weren't supposed to argue with your twin and wrestle across the sand while the child splashed in the shallow water. Mommy would yell at them if she told her.

As the pair began to argue closer to the girl, the ex-Decepticon pulled her farther away. He, at least, seemed to make a decent baby-sitter. Not as good at Ironhide or Mikaela, but he was better than Mudflap or Skids.

The girl stared as a tiny crab scurried across the grainy sand, rolling her eyes as the orange Autobot tried to place his brother in a headlock. Wheelie glared over at the taller Cybertronians in disgust.

"I think that they get dumber every time I see them," grumbled the transformed toy truck.

Annabelle shook her head, "No, they just argue too much. They like trouble, but they end up causing problems for each other too."

"I suggest telling your mother not to let those two watch you anymore," he continued. "Sam would be better. A _rock_ would be better."

The girl giggled, both from Wheelie's insult and from the twins struggles in the ocean as they tossed up sea water and seaweed. Things were going well on the entertainment aspect. She tapped the Cybertronian.

"Want to go play somewhere else?"

"Somewhere quieter?" he grinned, understanding the fuller results of the events that would occur. "Come on, kid. I got just the thing."

* * *

"Say it! Say it!" ordered Skids.

"Never!"

"Come on, say it!"

"Get off me."

"No way… Hey, wait…"

Mudflap shoved his twin and tried to reverse the hold. As he attempted to wrestle the Cybertronian into a better position. Skids growled.

"Wait, get off. Where is she?"

"Who?"

"The kid. Annabelle," explained Skids. "Where is she?"

The twin Autobots stopped their struggles and began to scan the immediate area. The only thing they could find was a curious dolphin that watched the pair. A sense of dread began to form in the twins. The girl was gone.

"We're so off-lined for this," the orange Autobot muttered.


	16. Missing

"We're so off-lined. We're so off-lined. Do you know how they'll react?" babbled Mudflap. "Sarah will remove our servos and Ironhide will blast us to smithereens. And then they'll drag us off to Hatchet so that he'll put us back together again. Then, they'll start all over again!"

"Calm down," his twin urged. "They won't find out. All we got to do is find the kid."

"One tiny squishy among all those on this island? Without letting anyone know we lost her? Do you know how likely that is? She could die of old age before we find her!"

Skids gave his twin a disbelieving look, "They aren't that short lived."

"Does it matter? The point is we're doomed! There is no way we'll survive this time. No one will stop Sarah and do you honestly think we could just explain things to her and not suffer?"

"Are you honestly that afraid of a _human_?" asked Skids.

Mudflap pointed accusingly at the Autobot, "You're just as scared of her. She's not a human. She's psychotic killer femme disguised as a squishy!"

The pair shuddered at the thought of telling anyone about Annabelle being separated from them. The only question in their processors was which would be worst: Ironhide, Sarah, or both?

"Okay," sighed Skids, "here's the plan. Search the base, top to bottom. Find the girl. Don't tell anyone. And if that doesn't work… we'll find a nice cave and hide there until the war is over, this planet's sun explodes, or everyone forgets about us losing Annabelle: whichever comes first."

* * *

Epps watched as the green and orange vehicle forms of the twins drove all across the base, often going back over areas they just passed. Even if he couldn't see it, he knew that their faces would be paranoid and terrified. They were searching as hard as they could, whether by scanners or optics. And their efforts only seemed to grow more frantic.

The soldier smiled to himself before rejoining the game inside.

"Okay, the game is Gin Rummy," he announced, studying the group. "You need three of a kind or three of the same suit in a row. Like two, three, and four of hearts. Any questions?"

Annabelle raised her hand, "What about the cards with faces?"

Another soldier leaned over, "Jacks go after ten. Then it goes queens and kings. Aces can either go after kings or before twos."

"You'll get it, kid," remarked Wheelie.

Shaking his head, Epps sat down beside the former ex-Decepticon. The transformed toy knew that the twins would freak out at losing the girl. Which was the exact reason that he'd brought her here. Letting the pair of irresponsible Autobots sweat (so to speak) was exactly what they need. Until then… the child could play cards.

* * *

"What are you two doing?" asked Ironhide, startling Mudflap.

The vehicles transformed to face the weapon specialist. He tried his best to look innocent, with mixed results.

"…Nothing?"

The black Autobot studied the twin suspiciously. Anytime either Mudflap or Skids claim to be up to "nothing," trouble must be on the horizon. And the twins had a real talent for trouble. As he tried to frame his next question, another individual joined them.

The woman who commanded respect from Autobots and humans alike, Sarah Lennox, apparently had spotted the trio of Cybertronians. Her expression seemed surprised and concerned. Ironhide thought that the twins, who stared at the human with more terror than they did most Decepticons, had reached a new level of strange as they started trying to hide behind each other.

"…What are you two doing here? I thought you took Annabelle to the beach?" she frowned. "Where is she?"

The pair exchanged a quick glance. Ironhide began to grow concerned. Finally, Skids started shouting frantically.

"It's not our fault! Please don't dismantle us! We tried and she's too small. How can we keep a eye on something that size? It ain't fair! I don't wanna be blasted! Iz zat to much to ask? It'z all 'is fault," he accused, pointing at his twin and breaking down into his ordinary speaking style. "He distracted me 'n she vanished. Like a ninja! Den we waz lookin' for 'er 'n can't find 'er."

"It ain't my fault," growled his twin. "He didn't watch 'er either. 'Sides, he started da fight on the beach."

"I didn't."

"Yeah, right. I know you did."

Unable to stand their stupid squabbling, Ironhide took steps to quiet and focus the pair. He slammed their heads together. Twice. Once more having their attention, he tried to control his voice.

"Let me get this straight. You were baby-sitting Annabelle. You started a fight. And now you don't know where she is. Is that everything?"

Shaking, they slowly nodded. Both realized that they were now in a very dangerous situation. They may play pranks on the weapon specialist, but they did not cross a certain point. The point where they move from pests to "potential targets." They knew that he liked the kid. And now that they lost her…

"Hi, Ironhide!" a young voice called. "Hi, Mommy! Hi, Mudflap and Skids! What are you doing?"

The group glanced over. Annabelle stood near one of the doorways, perfectly unharmed. Wheelie, Epps, and a group of soldiers hovered beside her. She grinned and waved.

"Epps taught me a new game and Wheelie won!" continued the child. "Are Mudflap and Skids done arguing yet? They were wrestling on the beach earlier and it was boring."

"Maybe they won't off-line us…" muttered the orange twin. "Much."

Ironhide whispered, "Oh, you two are still in serious trouble. I'll just have to make sure that you will have enough parts to be put back together again."


	17. Talking

After Ironhide and Mommy went to talk to the twins about their "baby-sitting skills," Wheelie started cracking up. He thought that it was hilarious that the two were in trouble now. Annabelle shook her head at the silliness of the whole thing.

A tall red and blue shape caught her eye. Glancing at her small Cybertronian companion, the girl carefully walked away. She knew that he'd notice fairly quickly that she was missing (Wheelie was better at that sort of thing than Mudflap and Skids), but she wanted to see someone she hadn't got to visit much. After all, if Ironhide and Daddy were busy while on base, poor Optimus had to be _really_ busy.

As she drew near, the large Autobot looked over at her. Of course he knew she was close. It was harder to be sneaky around alert Autobots that _weren't_ the twins. The tall leader bent down to be closer to the small girl. The size difference was still extensive.

"Hello, Annabelle," he greeted. "I take it your stay here has been enjoyable."

"Yep," smiled the child. "I got to see lots of nice friends, race, play at the beach, and play a trick on the twins. It was funny even if it was a little mean. But they started it. They would have done something to Ironhide."

"They _do_ have a talent at disruptive behavior," he agreed. "I was impressed at you command of the Cybertronian language. Ironhide has been teaching you, correct?"

She nodded, "I asked him to. It's kind of hard and I don't know a lot yet, but I'm getting better. Ironhide is a really good teacher and I'm learning a whole bunch. It's just scratchy on my throat. Since all of you learn all about my planet and things like that, I thought I should learn some stuff about you guys. Besides, I think I surprised Skids and Mudflap."

The Autobot chuckled, "I will guarantee that few members of the Autobots or NEST expected to hear you speaking that language. Other than your redecoration of those two, did anything else of interest occur during your visit?"

"Do you remember about the race?" Annabelle asked after thinking. "I rode with Chromia and we won. I think she and Ironhide should race together sometime."

"Still trying to help them along?" grinned Optimus. "I believe you mentioned a desire to 'help' them before. I suggested that you allow them to handle this on their own."

The girl managed to look embarrassed, "I was just trying to help. I invited them to race so they could spend time. Besides, it would be fun. You could come to, but Daddy says you have to look all 'professional and leadership-ish.' That's why you can't play as much. You have to sit through boring meetings with 'stuffy humans with no sense in their heads.' I'm sorry that they bother you."

"Such is one of the burdens of leadership," he shrugged. "Earth's representatives take a lengthy amount of time to accept a simple concept, especially for such a short-lived species. But I have observed that some individuals are far worse than others in that regard. Some, such as Sam or your own father, are more accepting and offer hope that humanity is still evolving. You are, as I've stated in the past, a young species."

Annabelle frowned as she thought over this, "So the reason the grumpy guys in fancy suits act really silly is because people are really a bunch of babies? That's kind of funny cause it means that Sam is more grown-up that Simmons. So, does that mean you baby-sit them when you have those meetings? I know it can be hard to baby-sit someone if they try to cause problems. I hope they learn to be big kids someday."

"I have heard you had an interesting encounter with Simmons," remarked the Autobot leader, amused by her comparison.

"He was really nosy and got grumpy when I told him that Daddy called him a 'big-headed joker'," she giggled. "But Daddy says that at least he's better than the 'stupid, bureaucratic, pain-in-the-neck Galloway.' But Daddy and Epps tricked him out of a plane so he doesn't cause problems for them anymore."

She glanced back towards where she came from. Wheelie was clearly watching her, but was at a distance so she could talk with the Autobot leader in private. The transformed toy definitely qualified as a better baby-sitter than the twins. But not as good as Ironhide or Mikaela.

One last thing bothered her, "Optimus, can I ask you something?"

"You just did, Annabelle. But you may ask another question if you wish."

"You said that it was strange that the boring people took forever to learn stuff since they were members of a 'short-lived' species. How long do Cybertronians live?"

The red and blue Autobot was silent for a few minutes before answering, "I believe this question would be better for another day. No doubt your parents will be wondering where you have been."

She sighed, "Okay. I understand. It's one of those answers that I don't get until I get older, right?"

"No, it is just one that would be better to be handled by either your parents or Ironhide perhaps. Do you understand?"

The girl nodded, "Thank you for talking. I know you're very busy."

"Never too busy to have a very enlightening conversation with such a bright child," he answered.


	18. Final Prank

Time flies when you're having fun. The few weeks of their stay at the NEST base were essentially over. Annabelle felt mildly disappointed that they never had time for the race between Chromia and Ironhide, but she made them promise that next time that they were all together, they would spend some time at something fun. She felt particularly satisfied that they agreed to that because it meant she could keep an eye out in case her favorite Autobot decided to tell Chromia how she felt.

Before she could go, however, the child knew she needed to do something important. She liked the Autobots, all of them. Sure, Jolt was still uncomfortable around the child. She figured he was just kind of shy and maybe afraid of stepping on her. According to Ironhide, he hadn't been here as long as some of the others and hadn't been around as many humans other than the NEST people. The triplets were smaller, so Annabelle thought they wouldn't be as nervous about being careful. And Mudflap and Skids were too much troublemakers to care about being nervous. Still, she liked the whole group in their own way, but the twins needed help on being her friend.

She'd pulled a prank on them, threw water balloons at them, and got them in trouble with Mommy and Ironhide. The last part was sort of an accident, but she didn't want to just sit there watching them argue. Still, she wanted to make it up to them and leave as friends. She would have tried to approach Jolt, but she didn't want to make him more nervous. Annabelle would wait until he was less shy before trying to be really friendly.

"Hi, Mudflap," she called as she approached. "Hi, Skids."

The two Cybertronians visibly flinched at her approached. She didn't know it, but her enraged parent and the weapon specialist had declared firmly that the two were not allowed near the child until the visit was over. This statement was made after Wheelie, while bragging to Mikaela about his role in guarding Annabelle, let it slip that the two were rough-housing far too close to the girl for safety. Now, they were attempting to avoid being disassembled by Sarah or Ironhide by actually remaining away from her. But that plan was not nearly as affective if the girl happened to come looking for them.

"…Hey?" waved the orange twin cautiously.

"Sorry Mommy and Ironhide got mad at you and everything," she apologized. "I want to make it better. I have an idea that you might like."

Skids shook his head, "No way. If we get in trouble again this quick, your mother will take us apart. We'll have to hide in a cave until we rust apart."

"But it'll be funny and it's against Mr. Simmons," explained Annabelle.

Mudflap, sensing a prank on the horizon, asked, "What is it and how can we help?"

"Is your processor damaged?" his brother snapped. "Did you not hear what that woman said?"

"She never said anything about the paranoid, lunatic, 'big-headed joker'," he answered.

The child asked, "Did Daddy tell you that name too?"

Skids shook his head, "Nope, but everyone has heard it by now. It's quickly passing Leo's name as 'Chia-pet Head' on popularity. Personally, I could devise tons of better nicknames for him. But, somehow 'big-headed joker' seems to cover it fairly well. Now, what is the plan?"

* * *

The ship that would carry the Lennox family, Sam, Mikaela, Wheelie, Bumblebee, and Ironhide back to the mainland was moving away from the island. Annabelle had insisted that they watch the shoreline for a few minutes. She stared intently at the retreating land mass.

Sam, however, was the one who spotted it first. For a second, he just stared in disbelief. Then, he turned towards the Cybertronians.

"Um, I might be crazy…" he stated slowly.

"You are," declared Wheelie.

The boy glared at the tiny transformed toy before continuing, "But is that Simmons being pelted by water balloons?"

Sure enough, a soaking wet Simmons was dodging water-filled projectiles. Unlike the ones that Ironhide, Chromia, and Annabelle had used against the twins, these were closer to normal size. But they still seemed to be constructed of pieced of tarpaulin. Chasing him were the twins, flinging the objects at their target.

"I don't suppose you had anything to do with this?" asked Mikaela, trying not to laugh as another water balloon struck the man.

The child shrugged, "It's just target practice. It's hard to hit a moving target without practice."

Bumblebee played a laugh track from some comedy show and Sam just shook his head at the insanity before him.

"Annabelle, how did you get those two a bunch of water balloons?" her father asked.

Instead of answering, she pointed at shore as another figure joined the two Autobots in the chase. Epps threw two more water balloons at Simmons and gestured for more of the soldiers to join in. Simmons couldn't look at all dignified or professional while fleeing robots and men throwing these childish projectiles.

"Epps thought it was a good idea too," smiled the girl.


End file.
